High School students
Design Work Zone
Safety Solutions for
PennDOT Contest
N
orwin High School students Emily
Jumba and Hannah Jackson
competed at the state level of the
PennDOT Innovations Challenge in
Harrisburg under the direction of teachers
Mr. Thomas Harskowitch and Ms. Ciminy St.
Clair. The PennDOT Innovations Challenge
tasked students with developing a cost-
effective, innovative solution to get drivers
to slow down in work zones. Emily and
Hannah did an excellent job presenting their
innovative solutions to PennDOT Secretary
Leslie S. Richards and a panel of judges.
The students met State Senator Kim Ward,
State Representative George Dunbar, and
Secretary of Transportation Leslie Richards.
Norwin Wins 13th-Annual
Engineering Bridge Competition
Norwin’s winning team of Noah Bulloch, Bekah Shuster and Jakob Bindas
pose with Vince Mangini and Dr. Stephen Jodis. (Missing from photo: Nic
Aboud & Tyler Naretto)
Norwin’s third-place team of Charlie Blenko, Chris Hinson, Alex Gibala
and Dan Smrekar pose with Vince Mangini and Dr. Stephen Jodis.
(Missing from photo: Natalie Naponic)
T
Mr. Thomas Harskowitch, State Senator Kim Ward,
Emily Jumba, Hannah Jackson, Ms. Ciminy St. Clair, and
Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Leslie S. Richards.
Mr. Thomas Harskowitch, State Representative
George Dunbar, Hannah Jackson, Emily Jumba, and
Ms. Ciminy St. Clair.
36
NORWIN
eams from Norwin High School won first and third place at the
13th-Annual Engineering Bridge Competition at Saint Vincent
College. Students built bridges out of hot glue and uncooked
pasta. The first-place bridge from Norwin was also the recipient of
the Natalie Carbone Mangini Most Aesthetic Bridge Award. In the
weight-bearing portion of the bridge competition, Norwin’s winning
team of Noah Bulloch, Jakob Bindas, Nic Aboud, Bekah Shuster
and Tyler Naretto constructed a bridge that held 37.4 pounds
before collapsing. The members of the third-place team, also from
Norwin, were Dan Smrekar, Chris Hinson, Charlie Blenko, Alex
Gibala and Natalie Naponic, and their bridge held 26.1 pounds.
The event drew several hundred attendees who watched as weights
were added until the bridges, constructed from hot glue and
uncooked pasta, collapsed.
A total of 19 teams from high schools across Westmoreland
and Armstrong counties participated in this year’s contest. The
competition aims to increase high school students’ awareness about
the role engineering plays in their lives and the career opportunities
in the field, providing an opportunity for students to collaborate on
the design and construction of their bridges in a fun, engaging way.
The program was started by the Mangini family as a way to honor
the pioneering work of their mother, Natalie Carbone Mangini,
as a nuclear chemist and the first woman scientist hired at the
Westinghouse Bettis Atomic Power Division in 1951.